Founding Member Of The Doors, Ray Manzarek, Dies At 74

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, died on Monday at the age of 74 in Rosenheim, Germany where he was being treated for bile duct cancer.

"I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate," said the band's guitarist Robby Krieger in a statement. "Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him."

In a 1967 interview with Billboard, Manzarek recounted his and Jim Morrison's meeting at UCLA film school and subsequent decision to start a band. He added that, before the band was conceived, Jim had already impressed him with the lyrics for a song "Moonlight Drive":

"I'd never heard lyrics to a rock song like that before. We talked a while before we decided to get a group together and make a million dollars."

After Morrison's death in 1971, Manzarek tried to keep the band together, filling in on vocals, but the experiment was short-lived. Nonetheless, he kept busy making music, producing other bands and doing film work.